Learning about Raleigh-Durham

Okay, so we've been in Raleigh-Durham for almost a month now and I've been way behind.  We're getting along well here.  Our neighborhood is really quiet, our neighbors are super friendly, and I'm more than excited to do some exploring.  I'm kind of a closet history buff, and David doesn't really share my interest, but I do plan to drag him to some civil war sites while we are here, because, well, you just have to see them, right?  Especially now that I've seen Lincoln.  It's been a bit cold of late, with the exception of early last week, which was a perfect 74 degrees.  I'm hoping it continues to warm up so that getting out and about is more appealing.

So, here's what I've learned about our new city:

• Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is what's known as "The Triangle," or Research Triangle, so named for the number of research universities within.  You've got UNC - Chapel Hill, Duke University, Wake Forest, and NC-State within a few short miles of each other.  It's one of the country's largest and most successful research parks and a major center in the U.S. for high-tech and biotech research.  
• Raleigh-Durham is the second-largest metropolitan area in the state, after Charlotte.  
• Center to a ton of history, including the role it played in the Civil War, North Carolina was the last state to secede.  Durham was the site of fierce fighting and the surrender at Bennett Place, now considered to have effectively ended the Civil War.  
• We're about 3 and 1/2 hours to the Great Smokey Mountains and about 2 and 1/2 hours to the Atlantic Ocean.
• Tobacco Road not only refers to the tobacco-producing area of North Carolina, it actually refers to sports played between rival North Carolina universities.   These are the universities listed above, also called the Big Four.  Huh.  Well, I've never been much of a basketball fan.  I guess I'm in the wrong state this time of year.  

Okay, so I haven't learned a ton yet.  But we're here for another 2 months, so I still have some time.   I'm excited to see more of North Carolina, especially the beach and the mountains and I think David is planning to see a Duke game in the next month.   It's bound to get a little crazy here for March Madness and then we depart on March 19th, the day of the seminar.   Makes it seem like it's going to go fast...